Another Year In The Books

For the past few years our Christmas Eve tradition has been to attend a performance of the Candlelight Processional, but this year we had to change that up.  Disney has revamped their annual pass options and ours was due for renewal at the end of Nov.  We opted for the least expensive which would allow us access to the parks only M - F with some blackout dates including the last 2 weeks of Dec.  So this Christmas Eve we decided to check out some of the hotel decorations since all of them get into the spirit of the season
each with their own theme.  Our first stop was the Contemporary Hotel with its towering 70 ft. tall Christmas tree with nearly 36,000 white LED lights located outside the main lobby entrance.  Once inside the hotel
      and taking the escalators to the 4th floor we found a 16 ft. tall “Frozen” themed gingerbread ice castle.  Created in the “It’s a Small World” style, it took months to bake all the components and 5 days for the pastry chefs to build
   the ice castle which has more than 1,500 gingerbread shingles.  They used 311 lbs. of honey, 514 lbs. of flour, 273 eggs, 67 lbs. of spices, 222 lbs. of icing, and 423 lbs. of chocolate!  Plus Santa was on hand to greet everyone and listen to all the little kids’ wishes!

 

We hopped back on the monorail and headed over to the Polynesian Village Resort.  They have lots of beautiful red poinsettias, garland swags, and the trees are decorated with tropical flowers and island themed items, but to us it just never seems to be as festive. The monorail exits onto the 2nd floor, and though we didn’t go down to the lower level, I did take a photo from above. Unfortunately I didn’t get Santa in it (he’s on the other side of that pole and the reason for the line of people).  The resort doesn’t have the height of many of the other resort hotels so the trees are not as tall but still lovely.

 

It was back on the monorail to the best and grandest of them all…the Grand Floridian Hotel.  They definitely know how to do Christmas up right!!  Again the monorail stops on the 2nd floor and once you step inside the hotel, you have an incredible view looking down upon the huge 40 ft. tall Christmas tree located on the lower level. As you can see, Santa sure gets around!  We walked down the grand staircase and found a very long line of folks who were not waiting for Santa but were waiting for that special photo op with Mickey and Minnie!!  They
were situated on the opposite side of the tree from Santa, and I managed to get a nice shot of them returning from one of their periodic breaks, Minnie twirling as she walked in. For the wee little ones, they get down on their knees as seen in this photo, but everyone wants their
  moment with this iconic couple regardless of age and sometimes whole families get in the picture.  Instead we found a couple of comfy chairs and just people watched while a live band in period costume played Christmas tunes on the 2nd floor balcony and when they took a break, a tuxedoed gentleman played the grand piano in the lobby.  A truly relaxing and entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.

Not to be overlooked (because you certainly couldn’t miss it!) is the life-sized gingerbread house that has been a fixture in the lobby every Christmas for the past 16 years.  It doubles as a snack shop/refreshment stand selling cookies, ornaments, beverages, and other goodies.  The pastry chefs estimate that it takes 400 hours of baking for this structure that stands 16 ft. high with more than 10,000 pieces of gingerbread and is made with 1,050 lbs. of honey, 700 lbs. of chocolate, 600 lbs. of confectioner’s sugar, 35 lbs. of spices, 800 lbs. of flour, 140 pints of egg whites, and 180 lbs. of apricot glaze.

It was time to head outside to catch the Holiday Wishes fireworks at Magic Kingdom.  No, we weren’t going to the park but planned to watch them from the wraparound porch of Narcoossee’s Restaurant located on the Grand Floridian property.  We walked out the back
   of the hotel, past the lighted deer, and towards the boat docks.  Narcoossee’s is located right on the Seven Seas Lagoon, and it really was an awesome place to watch the fireworks.

A few days later we made a brief stop at Walmart on our way to a doctor’s appointment because on this particular day from 1-3pm the Budweiser Clydesdales would be there for a “meet and greet”.  So as not to get caught up in the crowds Russ decided to park at the other end of the parking lot, and as
   it turned out was a great decision because the Budweiser truck arrived at that end.  In fact I thought it was going to hit our car as it made the turn!  We walked over to where it parked and watched as they unloaded the one, lone Clydesdale.  It was a little
   disappointing that there was only one but still very cool to see and watch as the groomer prepared him for his upcoming photo ops.  Then they made the long walk to the other end of the parking lot where folks were lined up waiting
     to meet, pet, and get their photo taken with this magnificent creature.  Unfortunately we had to hit the road but got an opportunity the others didn’t.

 

     We ended the year at a New Year’s Eve party here at the Lake Magic Resort.  This was our first time attending it and could be our last unless they get more organized!  Everyone was required to have a ticket in advance as seating was limited, but no one was collecting them as you arrived so a lot more
people showed up than there were seats.  They were even bringing patio chairs in from the pool!  It was BYOB, the resort was going to provide some appetizers, and I had inquired earlier in the week as to what the resort would be providing. I was told they had 400 wings, salsa and chips, black-eyed peas (a Southern tradition), and a veggie tray.  Well, there weren’t many
veggies, never saw any salsa and chips, some dinner rolls (?), the wings were fatty, and when the first batch ran out, folks in line were told it’d be 20 min. before they’d have more cooked.  Thank goodness we had made plans with our tablemates to each bring something to share. A DJ played a good selection of music, and we had a nice time with Jean and Jack, Judy and Bob, and their friends Roy and Ann.  None of us stayed till midnight as we all wanted to get back home to watch the fireworks that seem to surround the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve plus you can see some of Disney’s...Happy New Year!!